Social Attribution

________ theory deals with how people assign causes to the events around them and the effects that these explanations have.

a. Explanatory

b. Attribution

c. Representative

d. Situational

• A

• B

• C

• D

Which of the following questions best reflects what attribution theory seeks to explain?

a. How often does Tina engage in binge drinking?

b. Why did Larissa break up with Tom?

c. What did Bob say in response to Jim’s insult?

d. Where is Juan most likely to find a date for the dance?

• A

• B

• C

• D

________ refers to a person’s habitual way of explaining many different types of events.

a. Causative thinking

b. Dispositional attribution

c. The correspondence bias

d. Explanatory style

• A

• B

• C

• D

Bo has repeatedly tried to find a job. After each unsuccessful attempt, he concludes that there is just something about him that will always get in the way of success in his life. Bo is displaying a ________ explanatory style.

a. self-defensive

b. maladaptive

c. pessimistic

d. self-protecting

 

• A

• B

• C

• D

Kyle, a male student, and Megha, a female student, both failed their geography exams. According to research by Dweck and colleagues (1975, 1985, 2007), Kyle is likely to attribute his failure to his ________, whereas Megha is likely to attribute her failure to her ________.

a. parents; teachers

b. teachers; parents

c. lack of ability; lack of effort

d. lack of effort; lack of ability

• A

• B

• C

• D

Pat is a lower-class man who works at a tire factory for a living. When trying to make sense of why a coworker is late to work, Pat is likely to make which kind of attribution?

a. positive

b. negative

c. situational

d. dispositional

• A

• B

• C

• D

Many people think that victims of domestic abuse and rape are responsible for their fates. This disturbing tendency is most closely related to

a. the false consensus effect.

b. a pessimistic explanatory style.

c. the just world hypothesis.

d. the augmentation principle.

• A

• B

• C

• D

The just world hypothesis, believing that good things happen to good people, is used to explain which psychological phenomenon?

a. the fundamental attribution error

b. the covariation principle

c. the augmentation principle

d. the cultural priming effect

• A

• B

• C

• D

When we engage in a self-serving bias, we attribute failure and other bad events that happen to us to ________, but we attribute success and other good events to ________.

a. distinctive factors; global factors

b. permanent circumstances; temporary circumstances

c. controllable circumstances; uncontrollable circumstances

d. external circumstances; ourselves

• A

• B

• C

• D

Sarah and William got into an argument. The next day, Sarah reflects on why they behaved the way they did. According to the actor-observer difference, Sarah should think,

a. “I wonder what I did to make William so angry.”

b. “I happened to have a bad day, but William is just plain nasty.”

c. “William must have had a bad day, but I am just plain nasty.”

d. “I wonder what William did to make me so angry.”

• A

• B

• C

• D